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ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
January/February 2018 StudentHousingBusiness.com
56
Minozzi: Although colleges and
universities are the ultimate cli-
ent, many student residence halls
are developer driven. Although
facilities management definitely
favors more efficient equipment,
and therefore more sustainable
designs, these are usually in con-
flict with a developer's focus
on cost first. Luckily, the cost of
newer, more efficient technology
is steadily going down, making
greener buildings more afford-
able. These issues are usually
addressed during bidding and
value engineering efforts and we
as architects have the opportunity
to mediate these efforts to the ben-
efit of our clients.
Boarman: Having a project that
represents the principles of the
green community is one aspect
that our clients, the develop-
ers and managers, use to create
a healthy environment for the
residents. Some use programs
like LEED or the National Multi-
Housing Green Standards, and
some use their local standards.
We've done projects with solar
panels to provide the electricity
for all the common space. We've
also done geothermal for ground-
water/heat pumps to heat the
buildings. I'd love to do a zero net
energy student housing project
that uses elements of the build-
ing to illustrate energy consump-
tion to the residents and how the
building and their own lifestyle
choices impact the environment.
Using a laboratory concept that
can become part of the course-
work for sustainability is another
example of integrating learning in
their living environments, making
those systems and metrics visible
to the student. It's important to
find ways to illustrate how they're
connected to sustainability, pro-
viding a residence that supports
an environmentally responsible
lifestyle with areas and programs.
For instance, to multi-sort their
own trash along with a building
that has a positive impact on and
contribution to the health of the
planet. Those are things that show
the value-added attitudes of the
development community.
Faulkner: We do a green point
system calculation on all jobs.
Most clients do not go for LEED
certification because of the ini-
tial cost. We try to incorporate
features with reasonable design
costs. Some of our clients are com-
mitted to doing full LEED, how-
ever. That's always good; I am not
sure it helps leasing but some stu-
dents may ask or be more aware
of sustainable issues.
Bartash: The vast majority of
developers are invested in the
concept of sustainable building
and design but are now looking
at the cost of the certifications
and trying to find the balance.
While some will make the invest-
ment for the official certification,
the majority choose to implement
and boast the same sustainable
features, but they may not nec-
essarily stamp their building.
We are also seeing a cross-sector
translation from other systems,
like WELL, which is focused on
the health and well-being of the
building and its occupants.
Moltzan: We anticipated the
increasing emphasis on build-able
efficiencies and sustainability.
Within the last decade, several of
our architects have become certi-
fied LEED and even recognized
National Green Building Stan-
dards Verifier.
We make sure we stay informed.
We keep watch of how others are
solving problems, and we try to
further innovate. Our growing
sophistication of 3-D modeling
and building information model-
ing (BIM) has allowed for a more
thorough design/validation pro-
cess. In the cases that this has
allowed the client to gain more
certainty sooner, we have been
able to empower the client to
exceed the expectations of the
residents and the university. It is
imperative that building systems
and tech systems are reliable.
SHB
At Embry-Riddle University, PQH Group designed a 659-bed residence
hall that created a new gateway to the existing campus.
Photo
courtesy
of
PQH
Group
Design.
Niles Bolton Associates provided the
cover image for this issue. The firm
designed the View II for Goldenberg
Development. The 368-unit, 984-bed
project is located adjacent to Temple
University in Philadelphia. This is the
second phase of a full-block project
and it includes 22,000 square feet
of retail and a 10,000-square-foot
Innovation Center.